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Hypo treatments....new ideas pls?

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M

maria22e

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Parent of person with diabetes
hi all

My son who is 3 has stayed low for 2 days now only seeming to raise in the night. he's not eating so not injecting, but when this first occured his usual hypo treatment of apple juice and 2 biscuits didnt touch the sides...have now been told that apple juice has a low GI so releases slower...aghhhh just found this out. so, been advised orange ( dont think he likes that) or ribena juice. any other ideas..? does anyone use normal jelly beans??
thank you all xx
 
Hi, does he like coke or lemonade? Any sugary drink should work as well and quickly, just work out how much contains 15g of carbs (usually 150ml or thereabouts). I use jelly babies myself, but I'm 49 years older than your son so it might not work as quickly for him!
 
p.s. what insulin regime is he on? If he's on MDI (basal bolus, long and fast acting) then it could be that his basal is a little high if he's still going hypo when not eating/injecting fast acting. Also, his long acting might not be lasting 24 hours which means he goes higher at night - depending on when you are injecting of course!
 
Thank you northener, he has only been diabetic 1 year and i dont fully understand everything you are asking (ok i am blond too!) but i carb count, he has novorapid fast acting and levemir slow acting ( which i reduced last night by one unit)
i have found lemonade works a treat, but am looking for the most flexible option (for school too) apple juice worked fine until Tuesday.
in ur opinion if he had a tummy bug would this cause this constant low??
 
maria22e said:
Thank you northener, he has only been diabetic 1 year and i dont fully understand everything you are asking (ok i am blond too!) but i carb count, he has novorapid fast acting and levemir slow acting ( which i reduced last night by one unit)
i have found lemonade works a treat, but am looking for the most flexible option (for school too) apple juice worked fine until Tuesday.
in ur opinion if he had a tummy bug would this cause this constant low??
Click to expand...

Hi Maria22e,

Welcome to the forum.🙂

A mini can of coke (or lemonade) is the perfect size for a hypo as it contains fifteen carbs which is what is needed for a hypo.

Apple juice is too slow and might mean that the hypo is prolonged. It could be a stomach bug that is causing the low's due to the food not being absorbed. Have you had your son checked for coealiac, this should be done every year. Your son could also be in 'honeymoon' where is he still producing some of his own insulin which could be why he is going low. MDI is 'multiple daily injections' - which is what your son is on and its great that you carb count to match the insulin. Also, hypo's breed hypo's so you can get into a cycle of them - so you are doing the right thing by reducing insulin for a few days.🙂Bev
 
thanks you for your reply Bev, it seems to have puzzled my nurses as its gone on for two days now, am starting to suspect tummy bug now. ive dealt witht the high temps and additional injections, but never this and i was so upset last night. wish i could take it away from him! funny thing is he appears absolutley normal within himself and says he doesnt feel low. im knackered tho from hourly night checks. x
 
Well there's just one more 'your diabetes may vary' to add to the list! I've only ever heard of illness raising BGs rather than lowering them. You learn something new about this silly condition every day!

I'd go along with Northerner... if your son is not eating (and you are therefore not injecting mealtime novorapid doses) the only active insulin should be the Levemir which ought to be just enough to keep his BG levels within 1-2mmol/L of whereever they are balancing the trickle of glucose fed out by his liver. If they are constantly falling by more than 1.7mmol/L it suggests the basal dose is too high.

Hope he feels better (and gets rid of those annoying hypos!) soon.

M
 
I had my first tummy bug with diabetes just before Christmas and I had a lot of trouble with lows. I read that the stomach empties slower when you had a bug, so I suppose that made sense - the food or lucozade just doesn't get through quick enough. Hope he feels better soon.
 
maria22e said:
hi all

My son who is 3 has stayed low for 2 days now only seeming to raise in the night. he's not eating so not injecting, but when this first occured his usual hypo treatment of apple juice and 2 biscuits didnt touch the sides...have now been told that apple juice has a low GI so releases slower...aghhhh just found this out. so, been advised orange ( dont think he likes that) or ribena juice. any other ideas..? does anyone use normal jelly beans??
thank you all xx
Click to expand...

Hi Maria,
I would be very warey about giving jelly beans, just in case your little man choked on them.
Would little lad drink the sport lucozade? It's a still drink but full of carbs fruit flavours as well. You could measure a bit out into a cup for him.
As a 3 yr old does he need as many as 15 carbs to treat a hypo? I know as a small child I had 5 carbs and as I got older it went up to 10 carbs then 15 carbs when about 12 or 13 years old.
 
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Hi Marie,

I have found with my son that electrolite drinks, like lucozade sport help to bring him up more quickly than anything. Also helps rehydrate if he isn't well. It is a stressful time for you, but it won't be forever and there is help available if you need it.

Take care of yourself x
 
Thank you all , so brilliant to know your not alone and how there are different things to try. thanks again to you all
m
x
 
Another thought for you, would little one like a couple of spoonfulls of Jam?
 
Got some nice Lucozade flavours now that my niece whos diabetic likes too cherry and apple are favs at mo 🙂
 
Hi

The best treatment for a hypo is lucozade (the normal one, never lucozade sport unless swigging it whilst playing lots of sports and you know how to use it for that specifically). Lucozade though is a distinct taste that lots of children do not like. The next best thing is full sugar coke. You can buy the small party cans in the mixers aisles in all supermarkets. It is quicker than lemonade due to the caffiene but lemonade or Sprite is ok, so long as it is all full sugar.

If your son does not like fizzy drinks then I would suggest very strongly that you start letting him have diet coke to drink so that he gets used to the taste, sometimes its the only way to do it.

You could try full sugar cartons of ribenna.

Of the lucozade you only need 100 mls as that is 15 carbs. You can only buy the bottles, smallest of which is about 330 ml, three hypo treatments and you will have to carry a small cup with measurements on it around with you. Or one party sized can of full sugar coke or full sugar Sprite are both 150 ml and are both 15 carbs approx and one can is one hypo treatment.

Do not give biscuits or any other long acting carb when you treat a hypo. Always just the fast acting drink first. Drinks are better than solids as well, get in the system quicker. Test again after 15 minutes. If levels are increased then you can give the long acting then if that is what you do. The guidance now is that on MDI you do not need the long acting carb and lots of people do find that so you will have to just trial and error that bit. If you give the coke or whatever and then the biscuits at the same time it will slow down the coke working.

Well done for carb counting, great stuff.

Yes lots of lows can be a tummy bug. Vomitting and/or diarrhoea generally will be lows and could possibly be showing lows 2 or 3 days beforehand (as you are seeing) even though he seems ok. Most other illnesses are highs not lows.

I hope that it isn't a tummy bug and maybe just a need for less insulin.

I hope that has helped and good luck with the fizzy drinks. 🙂
 
thank you adrienne, ribena and lemonade are what we are going to trial now i think, ribena seems to be going down well thou.
im suspecting tummy bug as stools are still loose, but no vomiting now (i think that was the sugar overload) its been a week now, and im really not thinking he's back on track...back to food diarys and carb counting is none exsiting at the moment, even 0.5 unit seemed too much at lunch and have just sent him to school on 4.1. (with a ribena before hand too!) aggghhhhh. feel dumbstruck by this and feel so bad for him that i dont know whats wrong.
M
x
 
Well if it helps to know, my daughter has been having funny levels and not quite feeling right and I couldn't put my finger on it. Then the temperatures started and now finally she has a cough and cold and looks awful. She is now off school, levels are not too bad but we all get this from time to time I'm afraid. On a pump its a bit easier to control than on injections. Good luck and I hope he is ok soon.

🙂
 
are you checking for ketones if your not giving insulin hun xxwe use mini cans coke ,caprisun ,any full sugar squash x
 
My little boy won't drink anything sweet so when he's staying low it's glucogel, milk or fruit. He had the winter vomiting bug last Easter and couldn't keep anything down for four days so pump was switched off and saline drip with extra glucose attached. Eventually he will start to eat and drink but it can mean hours of him sitting on my lap with a 5ml syringe and me trying to drip water into him. Hope your little one feels better soon.
 
Hi Morgansmum

Sorry to be a bit negative here but need to mention this for anyone new who might be reading.

Milk or fruit are not good for treating hypos, they are not quick acting carbs at all I'm afraid so will prolong the hypo infact.

How old is Morgan? Is he still a young one? Have your tried perservering with sweet stuff. I introduced my daughter to diet coke aged 2 bit by bit. She hated it at first and it was only a mouthful at a time but soon got used to it.

Sorry to disagree but thems the facts unfortunately :(
 
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